The 166-year-old relationship between Niagara Falls and Maid of the Mist boats came to an end last month when the Niagara Parks Commission chose a new company to operate the lucrative tours.

The Maid of the Mist takes tourists on a 15-minute tour near the thundering Niagara Falls.

By:Emily JacksonStaff Reporter, Published on Fri Mar 09 2012

To the delighted tourists clad in blue ponchos, the Maid of the Mist ships were charmed vessels spiriting them toward the thundering Niagara Falls.

But the 166-year-old relationship between Niagara Falls and boats bearing the Maid name came to an end last month when the Niagara Parks Commission chose a new company to operate the lucrative tours.

Over the course of the 25-year contract, winning bidder Hornblower Cruises & Events (which operates boat cruises to the Statue of Liberty and Alcatraz Island) will pay in excess of $300 million more than Maid of the Mist — money that will go directly to maintaining the 1,325 hectares of public parkland.

“This is the best deal in 100 years,” said Michael Chan, Ontario’s minister of tourism, culture and sport.

While some may feel a tinge of sadness over the end of the 15-minute rides aboard the Maid of the Mist, officials say the break-up should have come much sooner.

The commission, a self-funded provincial government agency, wanted to renew the American-owned Maid of the Mist Steamboat Company Ltd.’s operating lease in 2008 without an open bidding process — a backroom deal that would have undervalued one of Canada’s most treasured resources for years had a whistleblower not cried foul.

Bob Gale, a former commissioner of the agency, questioned why other interested parties such as Ripley’s weren’t allowed to make a bid at the time.

“I just did the math on inflation and thought, ‘We’re getting screwed here,’” he said. “We looked dirty.”

The fuss he stirred resulted in a report by the provincial integrity commissioner 2009, then by KPMG, and finally a government order to conduct a competitive bidding process to be the sole boat tour operator.

And Gale, the owner of gas stations in the Niagara area, said he lost business from Maid of the Mist, who stopped buying fuel from him.

The government replaced the board at the commission, took “extra care” in its first open procurement process and appointed a fairness commissioner to ensure everything was done properly, Chan said.

“We did a pretty good job in terms of cleaning up those old bad habits,” he said. “We are very confident of moving forward.”

It may have taken a while, but Niagara MPP Kim Craitor said the process was clearly worth it and Gale should be recognized for stepping forward.

Ushering in the new era that officials hope will be marked by transparency are the yet-to-be-named ships from Hornblower, scheduled to set sail in 2014.

“We’re going to try to do a naming contest with the schools in the region and let the kids get involved,” Hornblower CEO Terry MacRae said.

Hornblower will build slightly larger vessels with bathrooms, a viewing platform by the falls, a tram carrying people to the falls and a website where people can buy tickets for a specific time.

MacRae has yet to meet with Maid of the Mist’s management but is “happy to work with them to make their exit as graceful as it possibly can be,” he said.

Maid of the Mist — which will continue to sail on the Canadian side throughout the 2012 season — still has the lease on the American side until 2042.

Its business “may soon come to an end,” president Christopher Glynn said in a news release, but the company refused to comment further. It’s not known what will happen to the boats or if they will operate in 2013.

The Maid of the Mist Steamboat Company Ltd. has provided safe, excellent service throughout its tenure, said Niagara Parks Commission chair Janice Thomson, but Hornblower’s new ideas will be a “spark for the future.”

The deal “clearly demonstrates the value of the attraction” and is “outstanding for the people of Ontario,” Thomson said.

“When people come to visit they don’t ask for (the Maid of the Mist) by name,” she said.

“They say, ‘I want to go on the boat tour.’ ”

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